About the club

W7VMI is the ARRL registered Amateur Radio club for Vashon and Maury Islands. Vashon has more than 100 registered ham radio operators, and many of them are club members. The club has no dues. Hams in the past have donated equipment for the club to sell - often by bequest as “silent keys”. And we've been very fortunate to receive grants from the Fire Department, VashonBePrepared, and Rotary for some gear. We're also pretty much all skinflints and pool our skills, so we don't spend much.

Club Calendar, events and meetings

HAM party potluck and White Elephant Exchange

The party will be at the Presbyterian Church on Friday, December 14th.
It starts at 5:30 and we will eat at 6:00. Please bring something yummy to share, and your White Elephant, which doesn’t have to be radio related but must be wrapped. Please, NO packing peanuts and such. We will need some folks to take the garbage and some to stay and clean up. Water and sparkling cider will be provided.

Come out to Field Day!

What is field day ?

Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise, widely sponsored by IARU regions and member organizations, encouraging emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators. In the United States, it is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year. Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday. The W7VMI radio club always turns out for field Day. Check the W7VMI calendar for details of this years field day events.

Links to information about previous W7VMI field days

Winter Field day 2019

You may recall last year we tried our hand at Winter Field Day. And, we were happy to meet the outdoor unheated criteria with no casualties. It was kind of fun. The most notable QSO was with our Sheriff who was wondering what the heck we're doing in the park in the middle of the night. Anyway, some great skills to be honed in the pursuit.

Field day 2019

other events we participate in

International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend

Weekly Breakfast

Weekly Breakfast Saturdays, 0900 at Sporties Eatery, 17611 Vashon Highway
This is a very informal breakfast meeting to socialize and optionally discuss HAM related matters. People often announce their attendance on the local repeater (443.50 MHz) as they commute, so we can grab an appropriately sized table.

Other notable dates:

August Picnic: We hold an annual picnic every summer. Lots of fun, rain or shine.
Consult the W7VMI calendar for our next August party

Club Frequency and Nets

Radio equipment

Many of us have elected to purchase similar VHF/UHF radios in order to improve ease of use and familiarity during emergency situations. Standardizing on gear has allowed us to share radio programming tasks and buy fewer programming cables. It's especially useful for Amateurs who also participate in Vashon's CERT and Vashon ACS drills